Insolvency Service
 Printable version
|
 E-mail this to a friend
|
Court orders closure of office supplies companies
Two office supplies companies based in Gillingham in Kent have been wound up in the High Court following an investigation by Companies Investigation Branch (CIB) of the Insolvency Service.
Butterfly Publishing Limited and Mailroom Direct Limited supplied franking labels to businesses in the UK. Both companies used cold calling techniques to sell their products.
An investigation by CIB revealed that customers were induced by false statements made during unsolicited telephone calls to order goods. Even when it was plain that the customers' member of staff to whom they were speaking did not have authority to order goods, pressure was exerted to persuade the member of staff to sign and return an order form immediately.
Customers were not informed of the price of the goods before their order was placed, and were then charged substantially above the market rate for the goods which they had been misled into ordering. Customers who attempted to return unwanted goods were prevented from doing so by means of unnecessarily restrictive terms and conditions.
The investigation also revealed that the sole director since 2003 of both companies had previously been involved with a business operating in much the same way (See notes to editors 3 for more details).
Notes to Editors:
1. Butterfly Publishing Limited (trading as "Fastpost") was incorporated on 10 April 2002. The registered office of the company is at 8 The Courtyard, Campus Way, Gillingham Business Park, Gillingham, Kent, ME8 0NZ. The sole recorded director of the company is Mr Lee Williams. The secretary is shown to be Company Secretarial Services UK Limited.
2. Mailroom Direct Limited (trading as "Mailroom Supplies") was incorporated on 30 September 1994. Its name on incorporation was Postall Supplies (GB) Limited. This name changed to Mailroom Supplies (Labels) Limited on 19 September 1995. On 30 September 2003 the name was changed again, this time to Mailroom Direct Wholesale Limited and then on 22 February 2005 the name was changed to its current style. The registered office of the company is at 8 The Courtyard, Campus Way, Gillingham Business Park, Gillingham, Kent, ME8 0NZ. The sole recorded director of the company is Mr Lee Williams. The secretary is recorded as Company Secretarial Services UK Limited and also Thanet Company Secretarial Services Limited.
3. Mr Lee Williams has previously been the subject of enquiries by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). Such enquiries were prompted from customers regarding unfair trading practices employed by his companies. Following that investigation Mr Williams, among others, gave a written assurance to the OFT that he would not make misleading oral statements. For more information see: http://www.oft.gov.uk/news/press/2003/pn_67-03
4. The petitions to wind up the companies in the public interest were presented on 17 January 2008 under the provisions of section 124A of the Insolvency Act 1986 following confidential enquiries carried out by Companies Investigation Branch (CIB) under the provisions of section 447 of the Companies Act 1985, as amended.
5. The companies were put into provisional liquidation on 23 January 2008 to protect the assets and financial records of the companies pending determination of the petitions. The companies were then ordered into liquidation on 5 March 2008.
6. Companies Investigation Branch, part of the Insolvency Service, carries out confidential enquiries on behalf of the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (BERR).
7. The Insolvency Service administers the insolvency regime investigating all compulsory liquidations and individual insolvencies (bankruptcies) through the Official Receiver to establish why they became insolvent. The Service also authorises and regulates the insolvency profession; deals with disqualification of directors in corporate failures; assesses and pays statutory entitlement to redundancy payments when an employer cannot or will not pay employees; provides banking and investment services for bankruptcy and liquidation estate funds; and advises ministers and other government departments on insolvency law and practice.
8. All public enquiries concerning the affairs of the company should be made to: The Official Receiver, Public Interest Unit, 21 Bloomsbury Street, London, WC1B 3SS, Tel No: 020 7637 1110. Email: piu.or@insolvency.gsi.gov.uk
9. Further information about the work of The Insolvency Service is available from http://www.insolvency.gov.uk
